Gainsborough Primary School
Janine Ryan, Literacy Coordinator from Gainsborough Primary School in Stratford, explains how Starwriter inspires and improves writing in her school:
Starwriter inspires our children
"All children, whether high or low attainers, are motivated by the multi-media approach of Starwriter. The child-friendly interface allows low attainers to use the CD unaided, while the more able are encouraged to research further having watched the stimulus."
All our children are supported by Starwriter
"The Writer's Guides are very supportive and user-friendly with colourful pictures to reinforce the CD stimulus, plus prompts such as paragraph headings to guide the writing process. Furthermore, they assist the children at each step of the writing journey with a 'Style Guide' for each genre.
Starwriter helps us deliver assessment
"It's great to see that editing work, self-assessment and speaking and listening are an integral part of Starwriter with children encouraged to 'Check it out' after writing, plus 'Talk it over' to ensure they achieve the learning objective."
Starwriter improves our children's writing
"Nothing motivates children and assists their improvement more than to see examples of other children's writing, thus the inclusion of real children's writing examples on the CD really sets Starwriter apart as a learning resource. In addition, the inclusion of a section dedicated to revision in the Year 6 Writer's Guide has greatly assisted the children in my class, allowing them to revise and edit their own work."
Teacher's and children find Starwriter easy to use
"Both my Teaching Assistants and myself have been very impressed (as have the children) with the easy-to-use Starwriter CD. Small groups can access the CD independently allowing for its use during Guided Reading sessions as well as whole-class teaching sessions."
Starwriter is great value
"In summary, having trialled Starwriter over the past six months I would recommend it as a real value-for-money resource, with 20 stimuli on each CD, accompanied by the highly structured and integrated approach that supports independent learning in the Writer's Guides."